Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Memorial of Saint Frances Cabrini, virgin

(Wisdom 6:1-11; Luke 17:11-19)

We should not be dismayed by the mindlessness of the nine in today’s gospel who do not return to give thanks.  Many of us act in the same way.  We are often blessed but quickly forget the Lord, the source of all goodness.  We may even attribute our blessing to luck or to some personal quality.  We should emulate the man who seeks to pay homage Jesus in gratitude.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini returned to the Lord after receiving his blessing.  She was at one point so frail that the sisters who educated her refused her petition to join them.  Yet she persisted in serving the Lord.  Gathering a group of women around her, she fulfilled her childhood hope of becoming a missionary.  Mother Cabrini, as she was called, established sixty-seven orphanages, schools, and hospitals.  She worked largely as an Italian immigrant with other immigrants in the United States.  Yet her dynamism did not stop at U.S. shores.  She extended her reach to South America and back to Europe. 

Gratitude becomes a person.  It bespeaks humility that enables him or her to keep self-deceiving pride at bay.  Recognizing the connectedness of society, gratitude further impels one to assist others.  It is not surprising then to see the Lord blessing the grateful cured leper with salvation.

Monday, November 13, 2017

Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin

(Wisdom 1:1-7; Luke 17:1-6)

St. Frances Xavier “Mother” Cabrini died shortly before Christmas exactly one hundred years ago.  She left behind a legacy of charitable work that stretches throughout the United States.  With great zeal she established hospitals, orphanages, and schools from New York to Settle.  More basic still, faith working through love moved her to accomplish so much.  Like Mother Teresa of Kolkata in the latter part of the twentieth century, Mother Cabrini was known as a living saint in the first part.  She may be considered an example of today’s gospel lesson.

Jesus’ disciples stand daunted by his command that they forgive a brother seven times a day.  They ask him for an increase of faith to meet the challenge.  Jesus responds saying that they have more than the requisite amount.  He says that the tiniest bit of faith could uproot trees and move them into the sea.  They only have to employ it.  Mother Cabrini had to overcome great obstacles in her life from a weak physical constitution to difficulties with prelates.  But unwavering faith enabled her to coordinate resources on both sides of the Atlantic to improve the lot of millions of poor people.

We are wise not to underestimate our own possibilities.  When we put our minds to a task and ask God’s help, we too can achieve significant results.  Jesus will be with us to enlighten our way and fortify our  will.  With him as the object of our faith we can assist many.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Memorial of Saint Frances Cabrini, woman religious

(Wisdom 13:1-9; Luke 17:26-37)

“Don’t ask for whom the bells toll, it tolls for thee,” writes poet-priest John Donne. Of course, the bells he has in mind are the death toll.  Although many people prefer to put off thinking about it, the hour of life’s end incessantly approaches.  For those with sixty years behind them, it will surely be sooner rather than later.

Jesus makes the same point in the gospel today.  With an image that might chill a polar bear, he warns, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”  He means that death is part of life because we have bodies which will one day be the food of animals.  So, Jesus admonishes, humans should prepare for the inevitable.

Jesus’ injunction to deal with mortality deserves attention.  Although it is most always prudent to resist death, we prepare for it by self-denial.  Jesus himself is our primary example.  He took up his cross not just in Jerusalem but throughout his public ministry.  St. Frances Cabrini serves as another model.  She gave up her native Italy to work tirelessly with the poor of the United States.  We follow both by dying to self in service of others, by performing periodic penitential acts, and by prayer that recognizes God, not we, is the source of true life.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, religious

(Titus 2:1-8.11-14; Luke 17:7-10)

“Who do you think you are on the streets all night, Mother Cabrini?” fathers in Denver would chide their daughters who came home late. St. Frances Xavier was a phenomenon. Born in Italy, she headed a religious congregation of women at thirty years old and then came to the United States where she crisscrossed the country founding hospitals and schools in her work especially with Italian immigrants. She ably reflects the kind of dedication that Jesus expects of his disciples in today’s gospel.

Jesus sounds harsh as he tells the apostles that they should work without rest or complaint. It is significant that his audience is the Twelve who are destined to lead churches. They are not to give in to the temptation of accepting adulation from the people as if they were the Lord himself. Rather they must remember that they have been chosen precisely because they are capable of working field-and-house, day-and-night.

So how about the rest of us? Are we to work as tirelessly as Jesus’ chosen twelve? First, let us remember that the work of the Lord is not entirely drudgery because the Lord himself accompanies us. We can talk with him at any time. Then, we must be mindful of all that must be done to prepare the harvest. Unfortunately, there are not always many hands to share the task. Finally, we know that Jesus in his love wants us to be built up not crushed by our ministry in his name.